"Huh?"
Belle furrowed her brow even deeper. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't remember!
But this guy sounded so sure...
General Chop was already cooking Zane's noodles. He glanced at the two of them but couldn't figure out what was happening.
Still, judging from Zane's tone and attitude, it felt like a heartbroken man had come looking for a heartless ex—only Belle was the heartless one.
General Chop silently continued cooking, just watching the show.
"Haha, alright, I'll stop teasing you,"
Zane said, resting his hand on his cheek and flashing a soft smile at Belle.
"I'm Zane."
Zane? Which Zane?
Hearing the name, Belle froze for a second. She didn't react at first, but as she looked into Zane's eyes, something clicked.
"You, you, you... you're Zane?!"
Belle almost jumped out of her chair. She stared at him, full of disbelief.
That powerful, intimidating figure was carved deep into her memory.
"Surprised?"
Zane asked casually.
Belle nodded vigorously. How could she not be surprised? This was like seeing a ghost!
No wonder he had been staring at her.
"Belle, aren't you two friends?"
General Chop asked, a little confused by Belle's reaction.
"Yeah, we're friends,"
Belle quickly nodded, clearing up General Chop's doubts. She shuffled over and sat next to Zane, lowering her voice to ask curiously,
"I don't remember mentioning ramen when we were in the Hollows, right?"
"And how did you even find Sixth Street? I don't think I ever gave you my address either?"
"And... how did you even end up looking like this? It's incredible. If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't believe it!"
Belle's excitement bubbled up without her realizing. She raised her hands, gesturing animatedly, her bright eyes gleaming.
"You used to be this big, and now you're all small!"
"How did you pull it off?"
Small, huh?
Zane's face darkened slightly. Was he really that small now? Sure, Belle still had to look up at him when he stood—but compared to his Ethereal form, yeah, he guessed he was "small"...
"I'm not telling you. Guess it yourself."
"If you guess right, I'll tell you."
Zane accepted the ramen from General Chop with a nod of thanks, then turned to Belle with a mysterious smile.
That look only made Belle even more curious.
If I have to guess it, why would I need you to tell me?!
Belle tilted her head, suspicious.
"Oh, come on, Zane! We've been through life and death together!"
She clutched his arm and blinked at him pleadingly.
"How can you bear to let me suffer over something I don't know?"
Zane sighed helplessly.
"Belle, is this how you usually deal with your brother?"
"Uh... well..."
Belle quickly let go, laughing awkwardly.
Only now did she realize—this was her first time properly meeting Zane in his human form.
It felt like a real first meeting, even though she had already gotten so used to him as Eous.
Because of their past experiences, any sense of awkwardness had disappeared.
"How I ended up like this... it's hard to explain. Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."
"As for how I knew about Sixth Street and the ramen..."
He smirked.
"Just think of it as something a dream spirit whispered to me."
General Chop overheard some of this, but he wisely decided not to get involved.
"Hey! That's the same as not telling me!"
Belle pouted, puffing up her cheeks in frustration.
Just then, the aroma of ramen hit her nose. General Chop brought over the bowl she had ordered.
Grrr...
Her stomach grumbled loudly.
Belle flushed, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, and dug in.
Forget it, plenty of time to ask later!
she thought.
A few moments later, Belle finished her ramen, even slurping down half the broth.
Clack.
She set the bowl down with a satisfied sigh, rubbing her belly.
After settling the bill with General Chop and chatting a little, she noticed Zane was only just finishing up.
Belle had even paid for his ramen too.
"Let's head into the video store and talk?"
Zane nodded and followed her.
Before they went inside, he thought of something and said,
"Right, about that interview... if you have time, we can do it now."
After all, that had been the original reason they teamed up.
But to his surprise, Belle waved it off.
"It's fine! You holding off the pursuers so Hare's House and I could escape really moved Nicole."
"Later, when we realized something big happened in the Cretan Hollows and couldn't find you, Nicole was so worried she discussed it with me at the video store."
"Although Nicole kept pretending she didn't care and said it was just casual talk..."
Belle opened the shop door, a sweet smile on her face as she raised her hand and waved.
"She said she'd originally planned to help you keep it secret. The whole interview thing was just a joke."
"Even that little money-grubber Nicole thought so, and I wasn't going to be outdone! So, I decided not to go through with investigating you. I left it to someone else."
"It's just a commission fee, after all. Being able to make a friend like you is way more important."
"What surprised me was that after Nicole found out what I decided, she even said we didn't have to pay the commission fee."
"But judging by her face, saying that really hurt her inside."
Zane raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected any of this—and as for "keeping secrets," he hadn't even been trying to hide anything.
Still, he appreciated the kindness.
"It's fine. You don't need to keep any secrets for me—and you should take the commission fee."
"Actually, I need you to help me spread the word."
"I've got this new identity now. As an Ethereal, it'll be much safer."
"I need to figure out who's behind the scenes targeting me. Best way is to stir things up, make some noise, and lure them out."
"So... you get what I'm saying?"
"I want my Ethereal identity to cause a storm in New Eridu. Draw enough attention to become the eye of the storm—then I can dissect the truths I need to uncover."
Belle's eyes widened.
So that's your plan?